NATAS Announces Virtual Ceremonies for Daytime, Sports and News Emmys

With city, state and federal agencies in New York and Los Angeles placing strict guidelines on events of more than 1,000 attendees, The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced today that nominees for Daytime, Sports, and News & Documentary Emmys will be honored via remote video production for the remainder of the 2019-2020 awards cycle.

“While it appears unlikely that officials would even permit these large-crowd events to be held this year, it is also clear that there will be a lag of time between being permitted to have an event and being able to provide an environment in which all attendees feel safe and comfortable attending it,” said NATAS President & CEO Adam Sharp. “Ultimately, a single person-to-person transmission resulting in serious infection would be devastating evidence of mistaken judgment in proceeding.”

The organization says they were previously determined that the Daytime Emmy Awards would proceed without in-person ceremonies but had continued to plan for Sports, News & Documentary, and Technology & Engineering events. The change of plans follows recent comments by both New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti saying that events of more than 1,000 attendees in close proximity will remain restricted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences

Winners of the prestigious awards will be now presented in a series of productions later this year, leveraging multiple remote video production technologies to involve nominees and presenters. Specific program dates and times will be determined following upcoming nomination announcements for the Daytime Emmy Awards in May and the News & Documentary Emmy Awards this summer, the organization said with fall 2020 the likely timeframe to expect for the virtual presentations.

NATAS notes that today’s decision does not impact ceremonies produced by NATAS’ 19 regional chapters — the majority of which have already committed to “virtual” events — nor those produced by NATAS’ sister academies: The Television Academy (Primetime Emmy® Awards) and the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The International Emmy Awards for News & Current Affairs will continue to be presented as part of the NATAS News & Documentary program, however.

The NATAS programs will be available on all leading “Smart TV” platforms via the Academy’s forthcoming apps, as well as through other distribution partners.